Father Time
by WrenWinterSong
Summary: Aurors Teddy Lupin and Scorpius Malfoy find themselves back in time and meet a certain foursome of trouble-makers.


**Author's Note:** This is written for the Ultimate Fic Exchange Challenge and is a gift for problematiquefave. I took a lot of inspiration from Cursed Child when writing this, and I hope you all (especially Pan!) enjoy it!

* * *

"I can't believe I let another son of Harry Potter convince me to go back in time," Scorpius muttered as he followed Teddy Lupin through a maze of clocks.

"If it makes you feel any better," Teddy said, "I'm only his godson. No blood relation, so technically…"

"It's close enough."

It truly was amazing how Teddy Lupin could go from a simple hunch to an all out secret mission in less than a week. It had all started two days ago when an Unspeakable had reported something strange happening in time. Nothing was being changed, but the entire Department of Time suspected someone from the present was in the past. After a meeting of Ministry Heads, and of course Minister for Magic Hermione Granger, jurisdiction had gone completely to the Department of Mysteries until proof of dark magic was uncovered.

But Teddy, Deputy Head of the Auror department, had decided to figure it out himself. With Scorpius' help, of course.

They reach the end of the clock room, and Teddy cast a complicated identifier spell to unlock the black wooden door in front of them. There was a moment where Scorpius thought it hadn't work, but then the large door swung open. "Guess being a Deputy Head has it's perks," he said, following Teddy into the dark room.

The place was empty except for a giant hourglass standing in the centre, the entire thing emitting a light golden glow. A steady steam of yellow sand poured into the half-full bottom, but the top never shifted, not surprisingly. The hourglass was so wide, Scorpius guessed it would take years to notice the sand disappearing to the bottom half.

"Let me guess," Scorpius said, walking around the hourglass. "This is time."

"Exactly," Teddy said, standing in front of the structure and admiring it. "And it's our key to catching this criminal."

"You do remember we've got no idea if this person is a criminal or not, right?" Scorpius circled around the hourglass and made it back to where Teddy was standing. "I mean, Albus and I messed with time when were kids, and we're not dark wizards or anything."

"But the two of you did nearly change the course of history." He gave Scorpius a stern look. "I don't care who it is. I want to catch them before they mess up as badly as you did."

"Okay, okay, I get. I was a stupid kid, point taken. Can we go hop through time now?"

Teddy opened up a door in the hourglass that Scorpius hadn't even seen and gestured for him to walk through. "Yeah, of course, I'll go first," Scorpius grumbled as he walked up the small set of steps and onto a platform that went around the entire bottom half of the hourglass. The pile of sand started only a few inches below the edge of the platform, and Scorpius guessed it was enchanted to keep rising with the sand.

"Be careful not to fall in," Teddy said as he stepped up next to Scorpius.

"Good thing you stopped me before I dived in for a swim."

"Oh, come on." Teddy walked around the platform like he knew what he was doing, which was more than Scorpius could say for himself so he followed. He'd only completed his Auror training a few months ago, and the Department of Mysteries had not been covered. Best to stick close to someone with more experience.

Scorpius kept his eyes on the ledge and his feet, not wanting to do something stupid like trip and fall in, but then he ran straight into Teddy's back when the older man stopped. "Do you see that?" he asked, pointing down to a spot about a meter out in the sand. At first, Scorpius thought it was a shadow, but he quickly realised that the sand was actually changing colours, fading from gold to black. It seemed that each little grain grew dark then light again, creating a black shadow that seemed to move across the surface like a fish beneath water.

"I have a feeling that's not a good thing."

Teddy chuckled. "That's the moment in time where someone's not where they're supposed to be."

"So why is it _moving_?"

"Time never stops moving," Teddy said. "You of all people should know that."

"You go back in time once—"

"Three times."

"—and suddenly you're supposed to be an expert."

"Now, the plan is to go and get back as fast as we can," Teddy said, his hair shimming between blue and pink in nervousness. "At least, we don't have to worry about bringing Voldemort back to life this time."

"Why not?" Teddy gave Scorpius a questioning look, so he added, "Not that I _want_ to bring him back, but how exactly are we planning to get to that shadowy spot without a Time-Turner?"

A mischievous look came over Teddy's face. "Like this," he said, then reached down into the sand pit, pinched a single grain between his fingers, and disappeared.

Scorpius jumped back, glancing around the glass room as if Teddy would reappear on the other side. "Great," he muttered to himself, shoving his hands into his pockets. "What I am supposed to do now?"

"Aw, did you miss me that fast?"

Scorpius jumped again, turning to find Teddy had returned to his original spot. "Cool trick, but where the hell did you go?'

Teddy chuckled. "Back in time, of course. See, when you touch one of the grains, it takes you to that time. You can't be seen or heard or do anything to mess up the present, and as long as you keep a hold on that piece of sand, you can move through that time as long as you want."

"So where…er, _when_ did you go to?"

"No idea," Teddy said with a shrug. "There was nothing but a marsh."

"So we're going to grab a time grain and not have any idea where or when we're going?"

Teddy nodded.

"Yeah, all right, sounds safe."

Teddy took a deep breath, his hair finally settling on 'I'm-super-anxious-right-now' pink, and raised his wand. "Are you ready?" he asked, holding his hand out.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow at Teddy's hand and poked it with his wand. "What am I supposed to do with that?"

"Oh, just take it," Teddy said with a sigh, grabbing Scorpius' hand before he could protest. Then he pointed his wand at the dark spot in the sand and said, " _Accio_."

* * *

If only Apparating were this easy and painless. One second, the two Aurors were standing in an oversized hourglass on the morning of the 2nd of October 2027, and the next, they were standing in the middle of a broken down village in the late evening, the sun only a pale yellow light in the west.

Teddy and Scorpius gripped their clasped hands as they stared around the unfamiliar setting, then looking between themselves, dropped them in a hurry.

"Well," Scorpius said as he cleared his throat, "we're here. Now, what?"

"Whoever else is here must be nearby," Teddy said, looking around as if the culprit would be sitting at a table, sipping tea, waiting for them.

"Nearby this _place_ or nearby in _time_?" Scorpius asked.

"Uh, not sure." Teddy tried not to think too much about how little he knew of what they were doing or what it would mean for both of them if they failed. Losing their jobs was the least of their worries. Instead, he walked down the dusty road with his lit wand in front of him, trying to figure out why anyone would want to come to this abandoned village. The place was empty.

A loud barking laugh sounded from behind them. "Who else can say they've got an actual stag at their stag party?"

Teddy and Scorpius whirled around towards the booming voice and spotted a group of four boys around Scorpius' age emerge from one of the decrepit houses. The one who had spoken barked another laugh at his own joke, his unruly black hair and scruffy face clashing against his sharp, aristocratic features. He had his arm around another fellow with messy black hair, but this one wore glasses and walked with a confident stride that would have better matched his friend's elegant face. Behind them scurried a tiny bloke who couldn't have been much taller than Lily. He had a pointed nose and nervous hands that were wringing in front of his chest. The fourth stayed in the shadows of the house for a long moment, and Teddy couldn't make out any discernible features.

Then the tallest boy turned back and called out, "C'mon, Moony, while the night is young!"

"Moony?" Scorpius whispered, staring hard at the foursome. "Isn't that…?"

"My dad." Teddy's heart pounded as the fourth boy stepped out into the faint moonlight. Despite all of the pictures he had seen growing up, Teddy doubted he would have been able to recognise this young version of his father. All around his home were photos of his parents, decades after this moment in time. His faded brown hair had not yet turned grey and his face had no patches of scruff. He looked like Teddy: the slightly upwards turned nose, the square mouth, the almond eyes that disappeared into crescents when he smiled. Even the muddy brown colour of his eyes, the only thing Teddy was unable to change about himself, were the same.

"It must be 1979," Scorpius said with awe, his attention having drifted away from Teddy's dad already. "That's when James and Lily were married."

"Yeah, we already know you're a bloody dictionary of knowledge about my godfather."

"Actually, I would be an encyclopaedia but—"

Teddy shushed him by nudging his shoulder and hurrying after the Marauders. "Where are you going?" Scorpius called after him.

"Where do you think I'm going?"

Scorpius jogged to catch up to Teddy, who trailed close behind the rowdy foursome. "What if they see us?" he whispered.

"They can't," Teddy said in a louder voice than normal to prove his point. "We're not really here, not like with a Time-Turner. It's more like being in a Pensieve."

"Because we've all been in a Pensieve before," Scorpius muttered. He followed after Teddy for a few minutes, glancing around the woods they entered since Teddy _the Deputy Head of the Auror department_ was too busy to do so. He bumped his arm against Teddy's to gain his attention again. "How do we know we're supposed to be following them?"

"Do you see anyone else around?'

"No, that's what I meant. Shouldn't we have seen the time-hopper by now?"

Teddy paused in his trekking to look around at their surroundings for the first time. "Well, who else could this person be after? No one else is here."

"We're in the middle of a forest. Of course, there's not a lot of people around."

"Okay, but…" Teddy stared mournfully at his father and his friends. He'd never gotten the chance to meet his father, and here he was, right in front of him. How could Teddy justify leaving? "Just a little longer," he said, hoping Scorpius would understand. "If it was your mum, you'd want to stay too."

"Sure, use the dead mum card." Scorpius huffed but followed after Teddy anyways. "You could've just overruled me. You are my superior after all."

Teddy ignored him as he hurried to catch up to the Marauders. They were off in the distance now but grew closer with every step. They'd stopped in a semi-clear patch, the full moon shining in the very centre. As Teddy and Scorpius drew closer, they saw all of their shapes morphing. "That's right," Scorpius said in an awed voice like he was meeting Merlin himself. "They were all Animagi. Wow, look at that! I knew Sirius Black could change into a dog and all, but he's huge! Like a wolfhound or something. And Albus's grandfather… who knew a deer could be so wicked."

As Scorpius continued to prattle on, Teddy slowed his steps and watched his father closely. He bent over in pain, his face red from holding in a yelp that escaped as something inside his body cracked. All Teddy could think about was how unfair it was that turning into an Animagus—something you had to choose to do—was as easy as waving a wand while becoming a werewolf was nothing but pain. His father never asked to be a werewolf, never asked to be put through this monthly torture. Teddy knew his father's friends had become Animagi to help his dad, but it only made Teddy resentful that they could change so easily while his father struggled.

After what seemed like forever, Remus Lupin completed his transformation, a large grey wolf standing in his place. The black dog tackled him, and to Teddy's surprise, the wolf tumbled with him across the ground and playfully snapped at his ear. The stag leapt over the duo, showing off his long legs, and the two canines gave chase, leaving Teddy and Scorpius in the dust. The tiny rat scurried across the ground after them and disappeared as well.

Teddy stared out into the empty woods, replaying the scene in his head over and over. As much as he thought about his parents, he'd never realised how much he associated his father with unhappiness. His parents were always opposites in his mind, a bright pink sun next to a grey cloud. Teddy's dad had been happy, though, at least for a moment, and there must have been other moments as well. Maybe his dad wasn't as miserable as Teddy had thought.

"Um," Scorpius said a bit awkwardly. "Can I suggest we go now or is it too soon?"

"No, let's go." Teddy turned away from the trees and led Scorpius back to the village.

* * *

"I don't want to say that was a huge waste of time because you met your dad and all, but that was a huge waste of time." Scorpius searched the sea of sand, but it had all returned to the same golden brown, no dark spots in sight.

"You're probably right," Teddy agreed, making his way around the platform to double check. "At least no one will know what we did, though!" he shouted from the other side. "And maybe we can try again tomorrow night!"

"I actually planned on sleeping then!" Scorpius called back. "You know, the thing normal people do so they don't die!"

"We'll be home by three. How much sleep do you need?"

"At least eight hours. I put a lot of value in a good night's rest."

"You and Rose must be loads of fun at parties."

Teddy made it back to Scorpius and sighed. "It looks like whoever is making their way through time also values their sleep. Might as well call it a night."

"Finally."

They stepped out of the hourglass and weaved their way back through the Department of Time. "So, um, how are your feelings?" Scorpius asked. "About your dad and all?"

Teddy shrugged. "A little better, I guess. I still wish I had gotten to know him on my own, though. All I've got of him are these impressions that he's left on other people. Even there, I only got to see what he was like in 1979 with his three best friends. It's like when Harry gave me a memory of him teaching the Patronus Charm. There was still this barrier no matter how many hours I spent in that Pensieve. It's how I learned to do a Patronus, actually, but it's not the same as if he'd been here to teach me himself."

Scorpius nodded and held the door open for him as they reached the door room. He stepped through and shut the door, causing the circular wall to spin around them as he said, "Death sucks."

"That it does."

Feeling like he should do more, Scorpius put a hand on Teddy's shoulder. He wasn't much of a 'touching' person, but since being inducted into the Weasley family, he'd learned to be more of a hugger. Teddy reached up and put his hand on top of Scorpius', squeezing. "Thanks," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, anytime." They stood like that for a while, Scorpius aware that Teddy was having a moment or something but really wanting his hand back. "So, which one's the exit?" he asked. Suddenly, the door in front of him snapped open and caused Scorpius to leap back into Teddy's chest. "Oh, uh, sorry." He patted Teddy's chest, then shoved his hands deep into his pockets and nearly sprinted out of the room.

* * *

 **End Note:** Hope you liked it enough to give it a review! This is my first Cursed Child complaint fic, so I hope it turned out well. :)


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